Large Port Count Wavelength Routing Optical Switch Consisting of Cascaded Small-Size Cyclic Arrayed Waveguide Gratings

We propose a highly scalable switch architecture suitable for client-side cross-connect switches in reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers and optical switching in data centers. It consists of cascaded cyclic arrayed waveguide gratings (AWGs). We develop a 270 × 270 prototype switch consisting of an assembly of arrayed small switches and couplers and AWGs that are fabricated on planar lightwave circuit chips. Transmission experiments verify its technical feasibility.